In June, President Obama told a meeting of delegates of the American Nurses Association that “Nurses are the beating heart of our healthcare system.” Unfortunately, when it comes to working conditions and cuts, nurses across the country have more and more become the bleeding heart of our healthcare system. In early October, a snapshot of [...]

Many poor Zambians are having difficulty gaining access to drugs such as ARVs that treat AIDS and other illnesses such as Tuberculosis and Malaria due to the corruption in their government. Over one million of Zambia’s 10 million population carries the virus that causes AIDS. However, thanks to the anti-corruption efforts of organizations such as [...]

The technological advancement of artificial nighttime lighting is creating harmful effects on human health and the environment.  Recent scientific studies show how the glare in the sky (light pollution) emits carbon dioxide and interferes with a nitrate radical that normally during the night… breaks down airborne chemicals that lead to smog and ozone. This cleansing [...]

The Senate has designated April as National Child Abuse Prevention month due to a growing concern for the well-being of American children. The 2008 Child Maltreatment Study compiled by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimated 772,000 children were victims of abuse or neglect; in 2008, an estimated 1,740 children died as a [...]

Republicans in the U.S. House of representatives are trying to eliminate all federal funding from Planned Parenthood. The issue will go before the Senate by the beginning of March. Republicans accused the organization of providing abortion services with Title X funding, which is not true because such centers have been providing evidence that such funding [...]

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) violates human rights and children’s’ rights, yet girls are escaping to other countries to have this illegal surgery performed. FGM is cultural act that has been done for millions of years. It is a procedure to prevent young women from illicit sexual acts, and to remove male or “unclean” body parts. [...]

There are women in Namibia whose reproductive rights are being violated. Women with HIV and being forced to get sterilized, despite there being no sound medical basis for the procedure. At least some women have been sterilized without full understanding of or agreement to the procedure. Three of the women are suing the Namibia Ministry [...]

Increasing numbers of people near the Gulf Coast are suffering from symptoms that doctors and toxicologists are linking to chemicals from the BP oil disaster that began last summer. The blowout of the Macondo well gushed at least 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf. BP responded by using at least 1.9 million gallons [...]

Physicians for Social Responsibility has released a groundbreaking medical report, “Coal’s Assault on Human Health,” which takes a new look at the devastating impacts of coal on the human body. Coal combustion releases mercury, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and dozens of other substances known to be hazardous to human health. This report looks [...]

Five years in, 168 countries around the world have ratified the World Health Organization’s tobacco treaty to protect the public from the tobacco industry. After five years, the US is still absent from this list. “It’s time for the United States to join the global community and reclaim a leadership role in taking on the [...]